July 19, 2014

100-City Book Tour: Joseph Otting Hosts Bryant and New Book at Jonathan Club in Los Angeles

This past Wednesday evening at the Jonathan Club in Downtown Los Angeles, California, my friend and Operation HOPE partner Joseph Otting, CEO of OneWest Bank, hosted me and the Book Tour in his city. Joseph, accompanied by his equally impressive wife, Bonnie, brought together some of the most impressive minds in Los Angeles leadership for a most important conversation.

The book, How The Poor Can Save Capitalism: Rebuilding the Path to the Middle Class (The Solution for the 100%), was the focus of the conversation between Joseph and I. Mr. Otting raised a series of questions, from the personal, tied to my background growing up in Greater Los Angeles and Compton, to "why this book," and "how can we create jobs for a new generation." These questions, generated others. Most of all, we discussed how after almost 150 years, poor and struggling people Nd families "never got The Memo," detailed in the book.

The audience was fully engaged, and also inspired me, as they represented every race and socio-economic strata of my birth city. Following the substantive conversation I signed books for most of the attendees.

Most important to me, Mr. Joseph Otting got the strongest applause in the evening, when it was announced that OneWest Bank would soon be opening a HOPE Inside location, as part of Project 5117, a large part of the HOPE Plan detailed as "a solution" in the back of the book. I like it when good people win.